Leadership Lessons from Eliot Spitzer

Feeling shock, schadenfreude or maybe a little smirky over Eliot Spitzer's resignation? Good. Now look in the mirror.

Lots of leaders are prone to the same issues that probably caused Spitzer to misstep, says Michael Stallard, a management consultant and author (here's Big Think's review of his book, "Fired Up or Burned Out"). Stallard believes that the best leaders make and maintain strong connections with people in their organization. Stallard's post, Spitzer's Self-Sabotage: Why? , saying that Spitzer fits the classic stereotype of a leader who became disconnected from everything but work. Stallard warns other leaders in the same position to take action now to stop themselves from ending up in Spitzer's shoes. Signs that the shoe fits: you're moving a lot of money around in your bank accounts. You're a zealot. Perhaps the press fawns on you. You commit the top 10 leadership mistakes. Repeatedly (everybody makes mistakes).

A little self-assessment could save a lot of pain.

Other BNet posts on the Spitzer's downfall:

Bill Holstein on Corner Office had warned that Spitzer had ethical blind spots some three years ago, as noted in this post Eliot Spitzer's Character: I told you so.
Jon Greer, meanwhile, is asking how Spitzer lost control of the message, making it look like he was part of running a prostitution ring instead of hiring a member of one.